Jurors Clear Lori Drew of Felonies in Landmark Cyberbullying Trial
Jurors cleared Lori Drew of the most serious charges against her in the first federal cyberbullying case to go to trial.
The six-man, six-woman jury acquitted Drew, 49, of three felony charges of violating the federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, Wired magazine reports.
The high-profile case drew international attention after allegations emerged that Drew’s participation in a 2006 MySpace hoax led to a 13-year-old girl’s suicide.
The dead girl’s mother, Tina Meier, reportedly shook her head as the verdict was read.
Wired notes that the case hinged on a novel argument, that violating MySpace’s terms of service for the purpose of harming another was the legal equivalent of computer hacking. Drew faced up to five years in prison for each charge.
Jurors, however, convicted Drew of three misdemeanor counts of gaining unauthorized access to MySpace to gather information about the girl, Megan Meier. Jurors deadlocked on a related conspiracy charge.
